An animal body radiates data about itself. Wearable devices that can transmit information from a body (e.g., animal or human) have the ability to transform two prominent fields: mobile health (mHealth) and human-machine interface (HMI). In addition to fitness tracking, long term tracking of physiological signals helps in the detection of heart failure, epilepsy, and other conditions. However, wafer-based electronics remain intrinsically planar, rigid, and brittle. As a result, state-of-the-art integrated circuit (IC)-based wearable devices are in the form factors of “chips on tapes” or “bricks on straps”, which are unable to maintain intimate and prolonged contact with a curved, soft, and dynamic human body to retrieve long-term, high-fidelity physiological signals.
Recent advancements in flexible and stretchable electronics have provided viable solutions to the intimate integration of electronics with bio-systems. Among many breakthroughs, an epidermal electronic system(s) represents a wearable device whose mechanical properties match that of human skin. As a result, an epidermal electronic system can conform to human skin like a temporary transfer tattoo and deform like a natural extension of the skin without detachment or fracture. An epidermal electronic system may monitor electrophysiological signals, skin temperature, skin hydration, sweat, and motion disorders.